Charlie Ganzel (1862)
Russ Hodges (1910)
Ron Necciai (1932)
Lou Brock (1939)
Bill James (1949)
Andres Galarraga (1961)
Sandy Alomar (1966)
Felix Heredia (1975)
Tommy Watkins (1980)
Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in a nine inning game while playing for Bristol in the Appalachian League in 1952.
It may never happen, but Bill James belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Joe Hornung (1857)
Sol White (1868)
Red Dooin (1879)
Matty McIntyre (1880)
Otto Knabe (1884)
Bill Foster (1904)
Dutch Rennert (1930)
Gerry Arrigo (1941)
Jim Strickland (1946)
Scott Aldred (1968)
Damon Buford (1970)
Ryan Klesko (1971)
Damon Hollins (1974)
Hideki Matsui (1974)
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to Eric B. B.
Roger Bresnahan (1879)
Ernie Nevers (1902)
Dan Topping (1912)
Frank Thomas (1929)
Jimmy Stewart (1939)
Danny Morris (1946)
Dave Cash (1948)
Tom Austin (1951)
Mike Fuentes (1958)
Brian Gorman (1959)
Mike Davis (1959)
Odalis Perez (1978)
Bobby Keppel (1982)
Jose Reyes (1983)
Football great Ernie Nevers, born in Willow River, Minnesota, pitched for the St. Louis Browns for parts of three seasons (1926-1928).
Outfielder Mike Fuentes was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round in 1980, but did not sign.
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to UncleWalt.
Jack Graney (1886)
Garland Braxton (1900)
Danny McFayden (1905)
Vic Harris (1905)
Mike Kreevich (1908)
Frank Demaree (1910)
Chuck Thompson (1921)
Hank Foiles (1929)
Carmen Cozza (1930)
Ed Palmquist (1933)
Kazuhisa Inao (1937)
Johnny Edwards (1938)
Ken Singleton (1947)
Elias Sosa (1950)
Gerry Hunsicker (1950)
Francisco Barrios (1953)
Scott Ullger (1955)
Floyd Bannister (1955)
Pokey Reese (1973)
Freddy Garcia (1975)
Outfielder Carmen Cozza played in the low minors in 1952-1953, batting .242. He later became a college football coach, most notably at Yale. Upon his retirement in 1996, he held the record for most coaching victories in the Ivy League (179) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
This is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Jairo Perez (1988).
D-Day B-days:
Ed McKean (1864)
Fresco Thompson (1902)
Bill Dickey (1907)
Wild Bill Wright (1914)
Hector Espino (1939)
Merv Rettenmund (1943)
Bud Harrelson (1944)
Bobby Randall (1948)
Dave Bergman (1953)
Max Venable (1957)
Brooks Kieschnick (1972)
Tony Graffanino (1972)
David Lamb (1975)
Mark Ellis (1977)
Jeremy Affeldt (1979)
Amos Rusie (1871)
Turkey Mike Donlin (1878)
Rube Oldring (1884)
Al Mamaux (1894)
Twink Twining (1894)
Turk Lown (1924)
Mel Nelson (1936)
Mike Sadek (1946)
Dana DeMuth (1956)
Mike LaCoss (1956)
Mike Oquist (1968)
John Courtright (1970)
Manny Ramirez (1972)
Scott Eyre (1972)
Spider Baum (1882)
Jim Thorpe (1887)
Warren Giles (1896)
John Allyn (1917)
Bob Kuzava (1923)
Frank Saucier (1926)
Kirk Gibson (1957)
Bill Doran (1958)
Duane Ward (1964)
Mike Maksudian (1966)
Mike Defelice (1969)
Jhonny Peralta (1982)
Lester Oliveros (1988)
Spider Baum won 325 games in the minors between 1902-1920. 267 of those wins came in the Pacific Coast League.
Frank Saucier is the player Eddie Gaedel pinch-hit for in 1951.
Al Reach (1840)
Lip Pike (1845)
Tip O'Neill (1858)
Joe Judge (1894)
Martin Dihigo (1905)
Lindsey Nelson (1919)
Bill Sharman (1926)
Jim Marshall (1931)
W. P. Kinsella (1935)
Glenn Borgmann (1950)
John Montefusco (1950)
Bob Knepper (1954)
Kerwin Danley (1961)
Dave Hollins (1966)
Bill Haselman (1966)
Joey Eischen (1970)
Todd Walker (1973)
Miguel Tejada (1974)
Jason Kubel (1982)
Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Sharman was a minor league outfielder from 1950-1953 and in 1955, reaching AAA with St. Paul.
Today is also the birthday of Twins’ farmhand Pat Dean (1985).
Dummy Hoy (1862)
Deacon Phillippe (1872)
Zack Wheat (1888)
Arch McDonald (1901)
Willis Hudlin (1906)
Augie Galan (1912)
Lawrence Ritter (1922)
Clyde King (1924)
Skip Bertman (1938)
Tom Penders (1945)
Reggie Cleveland (1948)
Buck Showalter (1956)
Ricky Gutierrez (1970)
Some interesting names who were not major league players on the list today, including an early broadcaster (McDonald), an author (Ritter), a college baseball coach (Bertman), and a college basketball coach who played minor league baseball (Penders). However, there do not appear to be any major league players with connections to the Minnesota Twins born on this day.
Al Simmons (1902)
Terris McDuffie (1910)
Jose Valdivielso (1934)
Ron Piche (1935)
Rich Garcia (1942)
Walt Hriniak (1943)
Tommy John (1943)
Jim Colborn (1946)
Jose Mesa (1966)
Al Levine (1968)
Julian Tavarez (1973)
Tommy John was one of the Twins’ television broadcasters from 1994-1996.